Drinking whole milk can make you fat? It turns out you've been doing it wrong all along! Here's how to drink milk the right way

Myth: "Drinking whole milk makes you fat and is not conducive to weight control."

Compared with skim milk, whole milk has a relatively high fat content. Therefore, many people believe that drinking whole milk is easy to make you fat and is not conducive to weight control.

Rumor analysis: Not true.

Although the fat and calories in whole milk are higher than those in low-fat milk and skim milk, the impact is not significant. It is only 1 to 2 cups of milk a day, so there is no need to worry about it for people who want to control their weight. In addition, drinking whole milk properly may also help lose weight.

As the number of people who want to lose weight continues to grow, some people who care about their figure are very strict about controlling their diet calories. They even choose skim milk when drinking milk. Whole milk is labeled as "making you fat" and is ignored in the weight loss circle. In fact, there is no need to worry about drinking milk. Drinking whole milk may not make you fat, and it may even help you lose weight.

What is the difference between whole milk vs skim milk?

When buying milk, many people will be confused about which one to buy when seeing the words whole milk, low-fat milk, and skim milk. In fact, the difference between them is not only the difference in fat content, but also in other nutrients and flavors.

1. Fat Content

The fat content of whole milk is the highest among the three, mostly 4 grams/100 ml; the fat content of low-fat milk is mostly 1.3 grams/100 ml; and the fat content of skim milk is less than 0.5 grams/100 ml.

From left to right: whole milk, low-fat milk, and skim milk. Image source: e-commerce platform

2. Fat-soluble vitamins

In addition to the different fat content, the nutritional components of the three are also different. In the process of removing fat from low-fat milk and skim milk, in addition to reducing the fat content in the milk, some fat-soluble vitamins that are dissolved in fat and are beneficial to health, such as vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, etc., will also be lost. However, this has little effect on the calcium that everyone is concerned about, which is around 100 mg/100 ml.

3. Flavor substances

People who drink milk regularly will find that whole milk tastes more fragrant and has a stronger milk flavor than low-fat milk and skim milk. This is because the fat in the latter two is reduced, and the milk flavor of the milk itself will also decrease. A study compared the flavors of 4 different brands of skim milk on the market, and found that the milk flavor and cream flavor of all samples were weak. This is because the milk flavor of milk is related to the fat content in milk in addition to the cow's own factors, feed and feeding methods. The cream flavor of milk mainly comes from unsaturated aldehydes and ketones in milk fat. With the reduction of fat content, these flavor substances will naturally become less. We usually drink milk mainly to supplement calcium and protein. Overall, the calcium and protein content of the three are not much different; low-fat milk and skim milk have lower fat content; whole milk has a slightly higher fat content, but it is more nutritious and has a better flavor.

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Does drinking whole milk make you gain weight more easily?

Many people think that whole milk has a high fat content and drinking it often will make you gain weight, so they only drink skim milk. In fact, this is not necessarily the case. From a caloric point of view, choosing skim milk will indeed consume fewer calories than whole milk. Drinking a 250 ml box of milk, the calorie difference between the two is about 80 kcal.

80 kcal is roughly equivalent to half a bowl of pomegranate, a medium-sized banana, or half a pear, and requires 12 minutes of normal running or moderate speed rope skipping, or 24 minutes of walking to burn it off.

This comparison makes many people think that skim milk is indeed beneficial for weight loss. However, the results of many studies on the relationship between milk and weight are unexpected.

A Swedish study shows that drinking whole milk is more conducive to maintaining body shape. The study involved nearly 20,000 Swedish women, who began recording their eating habits in 1987 and calculating their BMI (weight divided by height squared), and then compared their BMI every 10 years.

The results showed that women who drank a glass of whole milk or ate high-fat cheese every day had a significant decrease in their BMI index compared to the beginning of the experiment, and the slimming effect of high-fat cheese was even more obvious than that of whole milk.

Other studies have shown that conjugated linoleic acid in whole milk has the effect of breaking down fat, increasing body protein and reducing atherosclerosis. In addition, a systematic review published in Advances in Nutrition in 2020 analyzed 29 studies on the relationship between milk drinking and weight in children and adolescents. The results of all studies consistently found that the intake of whole-fat dairy products was not associated with weight gain or obesity. Another study showed that children and adolescents who drank high-fat milk were less likely to gain weight.

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In fact, there is no need to worry about the 80 kcalorie difference between whole milk and skim milk. If you really mind, you might as well use half a spoonful of oil less when cooking or eat less high-calorie snacks. If you just want to control your weight (normal weight, not overweight), you can directly choose whole milk without worrying about gaining weight; if you are already overweight or obese, and it is difficult to control calorie intake in your diet, you can choose skim milk. We can also compromise and choose low-fat milk. The "Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Treatment of Overweight/Obesity in China (2021 Edition)" mentions that under the premise of controlling daily calories, increasing dairy product intake can reduce more weight and body fat content, especially increasing the intake of low-fat milk is conducive to preventing centripetal obesity.

Choose the milk that suits you

According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents", each person should drink at least 300 ml of milk every day, mainly to supplement calcium and high-quality protein. However, data show that the average daily intake of dairy products by Chinese residents is only 25.9 grams, less than 1/10 of the recommended amount. We can choose the milk that suits us according to our own situation. For healthy people, it is recommended to directly buy whole milk, which is not only relatively more nutritious, but also has a stronger milk flavor; if you have dyslipidemia or overweight and obesity problems, it is recommended to choose low-fat milk or skim milk; if you are lactose intolerant, you will experience abdominal discomfort or diarrhea after drinking milk. It is recommended to choose zero lactose milk, or try yogurt or cheese. Under normal weight, there is no need for us to repeatedly entangle in a box of milk. Whole milk will not cause weight gain, but may help lose weight. Whether you will gain weight depends on whether the calorie intake and nutrient intake throughout the day are balanced, and more importantly, a reasonable diet and exercise. In general, for Chinese residents, the first thing to do is to increase the intake of milk and dairy products, rather than considering whether to skim. Of course, if you want to strictly control fat intake or suffer from hypercholesterolemia, you need to choose skim milk as appropriate.

Looking in the mirror of rumors

Such rumors often attribute complex health or nutritional issues to a single food or ingredient, ignoring the impact of overall diet and lifestyle. They focus only on "full fat" and ignore intake and personal metabolism. Be wary of such oversimplified or extreme statements. Any conclusions involving health, especially exaggerated negative effects of a certain food or ingredient, should be questioned. The scientific basis behind it.

References

[1] Chi Xuelu, Song Zheng, Khalmetov Muratzhan, Aina Si, Sun Baoguo. Study on the correlation between sensory evaluation and electronic nose analysis of skim milk[J]. Fine Chemicals, 2018, 35(6): 998-1003

[2]. Zhang Yue. A recent study by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden shows that whole milk helps maintain body shape [J]. Health Companion, 2007(3):8-8.

[3]. Wei Dengbang, Zhang Baochen. Effects of conjugated linoleic acid on fat metabolism[J]. Heilongjiang Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, 2002, 000(011):54-55.

[4]O'Sullivan TA, Schmidt KA, Kratz M. Whole-Fat or Reduced-Fat Dairy Product Intake, Adiposity, and Cardiometabolic Health in Children: A Systematic Review. Adv Nutr. 2020 Jul 1;11(4):928-950. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmaa011. PMID: 32119732; PMCID: PMC7360438.

[5]Vanderhout SM, Aglipay M, Torabi N, Jüni P, da Costa BR, Birken CS, O'Connor DL, Thorpe KE, Maguire JL. Whole milk compared with reduced-fat milk and childhood overweight: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 Feb 1;111(2):266-279. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz276. PMID: 31851302; PMCID: PMC6997094.

Author: Xue Qingxin, registered nutritionist

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center